So…one of my favourite headcanons is that the Potter family are Indian. (Those of you who’ve read my Grindeldore/Wolfstar dancer fic might recall that Fleamont Potter, James’ father and the UK Prime Minister, is Indian in that. Funnily enough, our real life Prime Minister is a British Indian Hindu who became PM last year. On Diwali. Yeah, that was an…interesting day in the family. Still not entirely sure how I feel about it.)
Anyway - here are some headcanons about James Potter being Indian, some of which are based around how I actually grew up. (Note: there will probably be more as I think of them!):
When Holi comes around, James wakes the others up by pelting them with coloured powder. He does it every year and every year they fall for it. They also pelt everyone with coloured powder throughout the holiday. It took weeks for the paint to be cleaned fully. (Some people suspected Dumbledore deliberately let it stay like that because he liked the colours.)
Sirius got really angry the first time he heard someone call James a Paki. He doesn’t know what it means, but he never wants to see that look on James’ face again. He absolutely lost it when James told him what it meant. (For those of you who don’t know what it means, it’s an incredibly racist slur towards south Asians; along similar lines of using the n-word to a black person. This is also why James gets so angry whenever anyone uses the word Mudblood - because he knows how that shit feels.)
Sirius helps James create magical rangoli patterns during Diwali. They also take over the kitchen for an evening trying to make Indian sweets. The results are mixed-looking, but they all taste good, and the house elves get some great new dishes.
Every time a festival falls on a full moon, they always celebrate a few days after so Remus can join in. (He hugely appreciates the sweets.)
James initially wasn’t thrilled that his Animagus form is a stag, since a deer is the form one of the bad guys took in the Ramayana when he triggered the events that led to Rama’s wife being kidnapped.
When James’ father died, he had a traditional Hindu funeral. Traditionally, the eldest son leads the proceedings, but when James broke down, Sirius stepped in to continue. In that moment, James loved Sirius more than he could put into words.
James also taught the Marauders some Hindi so they could talk privately, as well as some Indian magic.
James, Lily and Sirius actually go to india for their wedding outfits. Lily also has magical mendhi patterns done by James’ aunts and cousins. James also had to gently explain to Lily that wearing white is associated with funerals.
Petunia showed up to James and Lily’s wedding in a white dress to try and upstage the bride. She’s very confused to realise a) Lily is not wearing white, and b) a lot of James’ relatives are looking at her weirdly, because she’s wearing a funeral colour.
At James and Lily’s engagement party, James’ aunties kept trying to set Sirius up with their daughters and teasing him about getting married. They shut up when Sirius snogged Remus in front of everyone. James wasn’t even mad that his engagement was briefly upstaged.
James has a book of Indian tales and legends passed down from his father. He read them to Harry at bedtime. Lily would smile and watch from the doorway. He also taught his friends some classic Indian songs to sing to Harry.
Every year on Raksha Bandhan, James ties a rakhi on Sirius’ wrist and charms them so they’ll never come undone. One night, Sirius noticed the threads of one of them coming loose. That night was October 31st, 1981.
ok, any headcanons on james that compliment the ones you've done for sirius?
i absolutely loved those and i'm really curious about james
HELL YEAH LETS GO
ADHD. This dude has to be moving, fidgeting, doing something, always. It tires him, and he sleeps very soundly for a full seven hours. Doesn't wake up even for earthquakes (Sirius once did a mini earthquake spell on the dorm room floor in the middle of the night as a prank. It did not wake him.)
Wakes up at an ungodly fucking hour. He doesn't own an alarm clock (it has no effect on him), but his internal clock is set to wake him up at exactly 4:30 in the morning for quidditch practice. He is done with jogging through the entire castle, half an hour of yoga, and an hour of quidditch before 7 A.M. rolls around. Sirius calls him "a demon from muggle hell" for it.
The only one who can keep up with Sirius' intelligence. He is scarily smart, but because most of his time is invested in quidditch and pranks, nobody realises just how smart he is until the results are handed out and he's right there next to Sirius on the top of the rankings. Both of them are always exchanging ranks 1 and 2 on overall performance. It annoys Snape and Lily to no end, because those two are always exchanging ranks 3 and 4 on the list.
The definition of Reckless. If Sirius hadn't stopped him, he would probably have turned the castle to rubble in less than five minutes. This was the exact reason why people (who were in the know) were surprised when Sirius was the one that sent Snape to Moony. They had all thought it would be James' fault.
A fucking bookworm. My dude reads literally everything from mystery to romance to encyclopaedias to research papers to fucking dictionaries of different languages. Even when he doesn't speak the language, the weirdo (affectionate and derogatory).
Indian. Specifically, from Pune city, Maharashtra.
About languages, he's learnt a lot of them. The order of learning of languages, starting from his native tongue, is thus: Marathi, Sanskrit, Hindi, English, Ancient Greek, Tamil, French and Latin. He learnt the first six at home, and French and Latin from Sirius. He's good with languages.
Photographic memory. The reason he never has to study, and also the fact that he understands everything he reads on the first try.
He and Sirius both have twelve OWLs and eight NEWTs. They have Outstandings in all of them.
My dude has the widest, largest doe eyes possible. The only people who can withstand them for more than two minutes are his parents and Sirius.
Bharatanatyam dancer. Has his Visharad certificate, and genuinely enjoys dancing. Gives at least three evenings per week for dance practice to keep up his muscle memory.
Doesn't actually hate Slytherins. Neither does Sirius. Both of them have several friends from the house of Serpents, they just hate the ones that actively use Dark Magic on muggleborns, and Snape and his gang are a part of that.
Lmao the sheer arrogance in him, oh my fucking Gods—
Doesn't give a shit about the rules set by other people (unless they're set by his parents), but has a set of rules for himself that he strictly follows. No one can tell what these rules are, but he has them and he follows them. At the top of that list, there is "never betray your loved ones". He followed that one until his death.
Nevertheless, he will break every single rule. Every. Single. Rule. For Sirius. For Sirius, he will do anything, from taking care of him when he's sick to burning the world for him.
The Hat would actually have put him in Slytherin, except he had no ambitions except to cause chaos at the tiny age of eleven years. Otherwise, he's almost a perfect fit for Slytherin— determined, strong willed, cunning enough to pull difficult pranks, resourceful (because how else you gon plan epic pranks?)
He went to Gryffindor for three reasons and three reasons only: Sirius was there, he had no particular ambition, he wanted to be with Sirius.
M O T H E R H E N. Such a mother hen, but only for a select few people (the marauders, Lily, and Harry). He doesn't give a fuck about anyone else, but these are my people and if I weren't here they would literally get themselves killed put of household related incompetence how are you still alive by the Gods—
Follows ancient Vedic religion (because I do hehe)
Very very panromantic. Demisexual.
Had a crush on Sirius for a short while in fourth year, and then on Frank Longbottom in sixth year after he had one (1) glance at the older boy dressed in full Auror robes.
Loved his mother so much omg he was such a Mama's boyyy
Gave shit to Remus for looking like a professor at the tender age of fifteen, but wanted to become a Transfiguration Professor himself. He was also excellent at Potions (another reason Snape hated him) but decided ultimately that Transfiguration was his calling
Was in his last year of his Transfiguration Mastery on Samhain of 81.
Died with a Killing Curse on his lips. He was ready to cast it wandlessly, for his wife and child. Died with a Killing Curse on his lips.
props for possibly my fav comment on AO3 ever
“Elphie, Elphie wake up.”
“What is it?”
“I’m gay.”
“So am I, now what?”
“Wait what?”
“Go to sleep,”
“I’m not going to sleep after you just came out to me!”
“No? Well, I am.”
Steve has changed, Bucky thinks.
When the Winter Soldier was unthawed (over and over again), there were always expectations. By the time they put the man who had been Bucky Barnes into cryo for the first time, he did his best to meet them. Deviations were punished. The instructions weren't always clear, but they were convincing.
Now, that man is clapping his long lost friend on the back. He sends a backhanded complement at Sam, who gamely shows teeth and returns fire. It's a dance, falling into the expectations of the things they should be, and Natasha sends Bucky a look as the rogue Avengers depart on another jetsetting adventure.
Steve's demeanor is grim now. He's always quick with a retort, and he's contrary as ever, but something niggles at the back of Bucky's mind. Shuri showed him the high school PSAs, laughing at the hypocritical bullshit American schools were willing to feed their teenagers. Bucky agreed it was ridiculous, but mostly because he knew Steve.
Bucky Barnes had always been willing to play the role society assigned him. The Winter Soldier had been more of the same. But Bucky would never have thought his best friend would ever twist himself into something that other people wanted him to be.
Bucky wonders what the expectations were when Steve Rogers was unthawed.
I am totally gonna start saying sounds penis see you in hell now
My one friend group can't stop saying, "See you in hell!" in a cheerful voice instead of, "Talk to you later!" and my other friend group can't stop calling things "penis" instead of "cool" or "good", so I just unironically uttered the phrase, "Sounds penis, see you in hell," as I got off the phone.
have you got any james headcannons?
okay a lot of these are also hindu/desi James because 🥺 yeah
James was absolutely a dancer
specifically a bharatanatyam dancer
his parents were like super big on teaching him about all the cultural stuff and James was super active all the time so James being a dancer just,, made sense
also he had adhd
James lowkey idolised his parents and their relationship but for good reason
they were happy and they cared for each other and they were Peak Romance and James knew that's what he wanted one day
James was absolutely warned about the Black family and he was probably given loads of unsolicited advice on staying away from the infamous Sirius Black because he'd be a bad influence
(not by his parents though, Effie and Monty would never judge someone based on who their parents are)
and then he gets on the train and sees this scared little boy in way too formal clothes looking simultaneously terrified and relieved
and James just goes
FRIEND THIS IS FRIEND HI FRIEND HELLO
he's basically just a human shaped golden retriever
and Sirius is really just relieved that he doesn't have to spend the journey with death eaters in training
and they just kinda ramble at each other for ages
until they notice the two boys sitting across the aisle, one of them's half asleep and the other's very intensely playing with a muggle toy
(Peter was obsessed with rubiks cubes, you can fight me on this)
and James is so fucking confused by the lil cube and Peter shows him how to solve it and it's like James' entire fucking world suddenly makes sense because holy fucking shit
and Sirius thinks it's sweet that James is so easily amused and he's also in awe of how clever Peter is
and Remus just looks fondly at these boys who barely know each others names becoming friends so easily
and James definitely has an om pendant on black thread and it keeps catching Remus' eye
so eventually Remus asks about it
and James goes on this wholeee rant about his religion and culture and the food and presents
and he promises to take them all home one day to show them what desi festivals are like
and then they get to hogwarts and it's sorting time
and James knows how stressed Sirius is
so he makes shitty jokes and gets the other two to try and help cheer Sirius up
it doesn't really work but knowing that James is there means more to Sirius than he could ever say
the boys share a dorm obviously and James is,,, surprisingly neat
like you'd expect this whirlwind of an 11 year old to get his shit everywhere but he sorts his clothes into neat piles and he's super careful with his folds and he's got little desk organisers and he spends like half a day just focused on organising his stuff and putting everything away properly
James sees Lily on their first night when she's reading by the fireplace
and his brain is like
FRIEND NEW FRIEND HELLO FRIEND
because sweet little baby just wants to be friends with everyone
he remembers her name from the sorting and he's kinda worried because it's late
so he's like
hey Evans, right? it's getting late, you should probably head to bed soon
and she ends up saying she's homesick, mumbling it, hoping he won't hear because she's a bit embarrassed
he hears, of course
and he sits with her, talking to her about nothing and everything until she finally decides she's ready to go to bed
James gets back to the dorm and Sirius IMMEDIATELY gets on his ass because they're all immature 11 year olds when girls are the worst but also anytime a boy's nice to a girl they just assume he likes her
sooooo we heard you were with a girllllll
it's not like that, she just needed a friend
mmmhmmmm whatever you say potter
the next morning James sees Lily on the way to breakfast
he asks if she slept okay and she says yes and thanks him
and he tells her about what Sirius said because he thinks it's funny and she laughs too
and they start a little inside joke where he asks her out and she says no and they think it's cute and funny
and eventually James has his oh shit moment
because he wasn't meant to catch feelings, it was all just a joke
but then he'd ask her out and she'd roll her eyes and laugh a little
and James melts because holy shit the things he'd give to hear her laugh again
but of course he doesn't tell her because she can't possibly feel the same way right?
enter snivellus
Snape gets all jealous and starts acting up and being a prick
and James is like ??? you did this for what
like he doesn't get it because he doesn't know that Snape's jealous right and he just doesn't get why????
and Remus is like bro,, he fancies Evans but he thinks you fancy Evans so he's being a prick about it
and James and Sirius are like
TWO CAN PLAY AT THAT GAME
and they think it's just harmless pranks at first (which is mostly true)
but Snape gets all whiny and plays the victim card as if he doesn't start shit half the time
and one day James does his usual "oi Evans - you, me, candlelit dinner Saturday night?"
and Lilys like
it's not fucking funny anymore, potter
and James, once again, is very confused
and Remus, once again, has to explain that Lily and Snape are friends and of course she's gonna be pissed off if he complains to her
but James is like
but friend that's my friend don't wanna lose friend
and internally he still kinda really wants her to say yes the next time he asks her out
but of course he doesn't exactly know how to go about keeping his friend
so he tries to carry on with the joke but Lily just gets more pissed off, especially as the pranks continue
James carries on being a great friend though
he's always there for Remus, almost obsessively researching everything he can find about werewolves so he can help
he's extremely protective over Sirius and even tries to help Regulus when he first joins hogwarts
he helps Peter with his homework whenever he needs for as long as he needs (hc borrowed from @join-me-in-the-bog)
he's absolutely the mum friend and he just wants the people he loves to be okay
also we know James is super into quidditch right
so everyone expects him to be the Jock™ right
but one night Peter walks in on him in an empty classroom
the floor's cleared and his ghungroos and footwork are loud but sharp
and James is dancing
and it's amazing and confusing at the same time because it's beautiful but no one really expected that from him
and James catches his eye and he's a little startled but he smiles when he sees it's just wormtail
they sit by the lake that night, just talking
so I suppose you don't want me to tell anyone
tell anyone what?
.... that you dance ??
James is super confused
Peter goes on about how it doesn't really fit people's idea of him, how he's seen as the Dude, the Man that plays Sports and shit
Wormy... I cried over a cat with a pink bow in his hair in the middle of the great hall... I highly doubt anyone thinks I'm a Manly Man
and they just laugh and nothing else matters in that moment
there's definitely more but this post is already long as fuck and brain's decided I'm not allowed anymore words so I might carry on some other time but I hope this was helpful ?? what you were looking for ?? idk, also sorry it took so long 💛
tw: self harm scars
idk, something that's been rattling around in my brain since an anon asked about it. i never could find a full scene to fit it into but oh well.
///
Elphaba brushes a thumb over the scars, the catch of her nails against the rough, raised skin sending shivers down Galinda's spine. She holds her breath on instinct, anxiety tangling in her chest in a way that makes it hard to fill her lungs with air.
"You know," Elphaba starts, eyes still tracing the lines on Galinda's fair skin. "In some ancient Ozian cultures, scars were seen as a badge of honor. A signal to everyone else that the bearer was strong enough to survive something that could've killed them."
Elphaba glances up, her emerald eyes shining as the corners of her lips tilt into the gentlest of smiles. She keeps her gaze locked on Galinda's as she lowers her head to press her lips to the marks.
"I don't think you're disgusting, Galinda," Elphaba whispers, crawling back up the blonde's body to press another kiss to her lips. "I think you're a survivor."
During the British brutal colonial rule, 165 million excess deaths in India between 1880 and 1920.
There were approximately 25 major famines during the British Raj (the period of rule by the British Crown over the Indian subcontinent from 1858 to 1947.
Famine-stricken regions faced high taxes and forced labour. The British prioritized their economic interests over human lives. They exported grain while people starved.
Non interference was official government policy.
The sheer number of deaths, the neglect, the after shocks of British colonialism is all ignored or only mentioned in passing by history textbooks of the world.
Britain is yet to extend an official apology for the horrors they inflicted in India.
The British royalty still exists today and is celebrated around the globe.
I’ll leave you with a quote by the “hero” Winston Churchill ~
Does anyone have any good marauders fanfic recs? I'm trynna find some with desi James, but just any recs are good with me.